TVD’s AM Gems | Hal Blaine Edition

From Hal Blaine’s official website: Hal Blaine may well be the most prolific drummer in rock and roll history. He’s certainly played on more hit records than any drummer in the rock era, including 40 ..1 singles and 150 that made the Top Ten. Eight of the records he played on won Grammys for Record of the Year.

He was the most in-demand session drummer in Los Angeles during the Sixties and early Seventies, and a list of musicians he played with reads like a who’s who of popular music. In 1961, Blaine drummed on “Can’t Help Falling in Love With You,” one of Elvis Presley’s most memorable sides, and he would play on Presley’s film soundtracks throughout the Sixties. However, Blaine’s best-known affiliation is with producer Phil Spector, where he served as the percussive backbone of the “Wrecking Crew” the nickname that younger studio hands on the L.A. scene bestowed on themselves after the rock-hating old-timers complained they were “wrecking the business.”

A “short list” of tracks Hal Blaine recorded:
* Can’t Help Falling in Love – Elvis Presley (12/18/61) * He’s a Rebel – The Crystals (10/06/62) * Surf City – Jan & Dean (06/22/63) * I Get Around – Beach Boys (06/06/64) * Everybody Loves Somebody – Dean Martin (07/11/64) * Ringo – Lorne Greene (11/07/64) * This Diamond Ring – Gary Lewis & the Playboys (01/23/65) * Help Me, Rhonda – Beach Boys (05/01/65) * Mr. Tambourine Man – Byrds (06/05/65) * I Got You Babe – Sonny & Cher (07/31/65) * Eve of Destruction – Barry McGuire (08/28/65) * My Love – Petula Clark (01/15/66) * These Boots Are Made for Walkin’ – Nancy Sinatra (02/05/66) * Monday Monday – Mamas and Papas (04/16/66) * Strangers in the Night – Frank Sinatra (05/28/66) * Poor Side of Town – Johnny Rivers (10/08/66) * Good Vibrations – Beach Boys (10/29/66) * Somethin’ Stupid – Frank & Nancy Sinatra (03/25/67) * The Happening – Supremes (04/15/67) * Windy – Association (06/03/67) * Mrs. Robinson – Simon & Garfunkel (05/04/68) * Dizzy – Tommy Roe * Aquarius/Let the Sunshine In – 5th Dimension(03/15/69) * Love Theme Romeo & Juliet – Henry Mancini (05/24/69) * Wedding Bell Blues – 5th Dimension (10/04/69) * Bridge Over Troubled Water – Simon & Garfunkel (02/14/70) * (They Long to Be) Close to You – The Carpenters (06/27/70) * Cracklin’ Rosie – Neil Diamond (08/29/70) * Indian Reservation – Paul Revere & the Raiders (05/29/71) * I Think I Love You – Partridge Family (10/31/71) * Song Sung Blue – Neil Diamond (05/13/72) * Half Breed – Cher (09/01/73) * Annie’s Song – John Denver (06/15/74) * Top of the World – The Carpenters (10/20/74) * The Way We Were – Barbra Streisand (12/22/74) * Thank God I’m a Country Boy – John Denver (04/05/75) * Love Will Keep Us Together – Captain & Tennille (05/24/75) * I’m Sorry/Calypso – John Denver (08/30/75) * Theme from Mahogany (Do You Know Where You’re Going To) – Diana Ross (11/22/76)